08.06.07
Things I Generally Don’t Do, Part III
Okay, this last “thing” is a little bit of a stretch. Frankly, this whole themed series has been a stretch, but apparently I feel the need to arrange everything in my life into themes so as to create the illusion of order and purpose. I’d like to think that when I die, the entire story of my life could be organized by category into a number of leather-bound box sets that could be purchased via infomercial or perhaps from a pleasant door-to-door salesman. Hence my adherence to this series of posts even though I’m totally grasping at straws.
What actually happened here is that I started this series when I was having bizarrely intense yearnings to take up a bunch of new hobbies. Earthchick’s adorable sewing projects were wearing down my resistance to sewing (though it seems a little crass to talk about her sewing projects, given some of the recent life trauma she’s been dealing with); this “disappearing nine-patch” quilt is so clever and easy that I entertained serious notions of busting out some fabric scraps; and of course the yarn dyeing turned out to be so much more enjoyable than I anticipated (as did the making up of names for the colorways) that I really began to question my knitting monogamy. As I imagined myself trying all these new crafts, I couldn’t help but think eagerly about the blog content they would generate (given that it always seems to be in short supply for me). Unfortunately, the series lost steam immediately because my little bout of fantasizing about being unfaithful to my sticks and string faded about a week later. Since I’d impulsively slapped a “Part I” on my yarn-dyeing post, though, I figured I’d better come up with at least two more parts or else lose blogging credibility. (The horror!)
So, here we go. The featured thing I generally don’t do in this post is crochet. Stay with me; in spite of the fact that the picture above is of a knitted toy (Sheldon from Knitty), the aspect of the project that fueled the fires of my new-hobby obsession was the crocheted edging around the shell attachment panel. This was the first time I had ever crocheted anything other than a chain, and I was totally smitten with the nice, neat edge that it made. After finishing the required crochet on Sheldon, I raced upstairs to apply my newly acquired skill to Green Gable (many people had recommended that a row of single crochet would help with the rolling, gapping neckline, but I’d put off testing their recommendation because I didn’t know how to do a crochet edging).
Look at that perfect, clean edge! (Compare to here.) My sweater was transformed! Crochet was clearly going to change my life. Since I was deep in the throes of my new-hobby mania, it should be no surprise that I started brainstorming names for my new crochet blog and wondering whether it would be excessive to order 20 crochet pattern books at once (to save on shipping, of course), or whether I should just order the top 5 bestsellers from Amazon and then grow from there. Should I order the full set of gold-plated crochet hooks, or spring for the carved ivory set? I pondered whether I should begin my crochet career with the hat that Laura made recently (just to drive home our cosmic twinness a little more) or whether I should take on something more challenging — more epic. Whatever I chose, it was sure to generate excellent content for my “things I generally don’t do” series.
Errr, well. My plans for crochet went the way of my hand-dyed yarn Etsy shop. My total lifetime crochet output still stands at two chains, one neckline edging, and one turtle shell attachment panel. Fortunately, I have also not bought any crochet books, and I still have only my two plastic crochet hooks. My obsession with new crafts faded as quickly as it started…and I think it is a good thing. I am awfully partial to knitting, after all, and why mess with a good thing?
A few quick notes on Sheldon. What a fantastic pattern. The way the top of the shell is created is some of the cleverest knitting I’ve ever seen. And everyone who saw the finished turtle was completely charmed by the design — particularly the way he wears the shell as a little sweater. While I gave this Sheldon to my friend’s three-month-old (and can’t you tell how delighted he is to have it?), I have big plans to make another one for myself, and mine is going to have a large wardrobe of shells. Black and white for formal occasions, khaki and navy for preppy occasions, red and green for Christmas, black on black for his goth phase — the possibilities are endless.
Other good things about Sheldon: First, for the first time in a while, I learned new skills while making him. In addition to the aforementioned crochet, I did applied i-cord for the first time. That was a bit fiddly but gave a very nice result, and it was good to feel challenged. Second, if you knit only the body (no legs), you get something that looks a bit like a stuffed sperm. That may come in useful at some point — you never know. (And what child wouldn’t love it?) Finally, it introduced me to safety eyes, a very clever invention that really works — there is NO getting those eyes off once they’re attached. I know this because, in spite of extremely careful measuring and counting and eyeballing and praying, I attached Sheldon’s eyes utterly crookedly, and once I realized it, there wasn’t a damn thing I could do about it but say bad words.
I made Sheldon out of the yarn the pattern called for (Knitpicks Shine Sport) on size 3 and 4 needles. It took me about 2 weeks of light knitting.
Random Thing About Me
Remember this? Remember how I was going to put one random fact about myself in every post until I got up to 7 or 8 or whatever the Meme of the Week dictates? Another example of how I like everything to have a sense of thematic structure. (Also another example of my utter lack of follow through on that impulse, but let’s not dwell on the negative.)
So, anyway, random thing #3: I am a huge Harry Potter fan, as is my husband. I am unhealthily emotionally attached to the stories. (I know that I am one of only 30 million people who feel this way, so no doubt you’ll recognize my membership in this exclusive club as a particularly compelling characteristic worthy of inclusion on a list of notable things about me.) When I bought myself Book 1 back in 1999 (when the third one had just come out), I got a nasty flu that same day. Matt offered to read it out loud to me while I lay in bed feeling sorry for myself, and it was such an enjoyable way to hear the story that we have continued that tradition and have read every book out loud — alternating chapters ever since the first one — as it has come out. Doing so has allowed us to savor each book, though it can be absolutely brutal to hear only 2-3 chapters a night, especially at the really exciting parts! We just finished Book 7 a couple days ago (Matt blogged about each chapter as we read it, which was fun), and I have to admit I’m really sad it’s over. Anyone have any recommendations for other good read-out-loud books?
Wait, I’ve just thought of an actual thing that I’m doing that I generally don’t do! I’m sending the Gastby Girl Sweater into hibernation. The damn thing has pissed me off one too many times. It has been doomed from the start, and now I’m starting to question whether I even like the sweater at all. I have never been one for officially setting aside a project for an extended — maybe infinite — period, but it is definitely the right decision in this case. I may even frog the whole thing and use the yarn for something else (another thing I’ve never done!), but I’m not quite ready for that yet. To cleanse my palate of the distaste left by Gatsby Girl, I’ve cast on a nice simple woolen baby jacket for no one. I need some quick woolly gratification. (In August — weird, I know.)
